Moonlight Fights and Sleepless Nights
by thishasbeenabanadoned
Summary: Sirius' inquiry as to the wherabouts of one Remus J Lupin leads to some very interesting discoveries.


_Author Note: This was supposed to be something else but it turned out like this. I don't know what to think of it (feel free to tell me :hint hint:) it is longish and rambling and overall I don't like it as much as I did when I was writing it. Nonetheless here it is in all it's glory. Kind of. _

_Set in Marauders second year at Hogwarts._

**Moonlight Fights and Sleepless Nights**

Sirius was not happy with Remus Lupin. How was he supposed to study for his History of Magic test of he didn't have Remus' notes? As the only Marauder to take notes in History of Magic it was his _duty _to give them to Sirius and not to have disappeared when his comrade was in need. That sort of behaviour was Not On.

He remembered vaguely that Remus had left in the middle of Transfiguration because apparently he'd been sick, but when he'd checked the Hospital Wing he wasn't there. That had lead Sirius to believe that he'd been faking, which was very impressive. Not many people could get out of Transfiguration so easily; Sirius himself had spent half the lesson rolling about on the floor, moaning and McGonagall still hadn't let him out. She'd just given him a week of detentions. However it was no business of Remus' to bludge Transfiguration when Sirius didn't have any History notes. That was most certainly not acceptable.

---

When Sirius reached the common room James was sitting in the corner working on a potions essay that had been due two days ago.

"Hey James!" called Sirius, "where's Remus?"

"He said he was sick and went off to the Hospital Wing, remember?"

"Well he lied."

James looked up at him, "Remus? But he thinks chucking dungbombs at Snape is 'immoral' or whatever it was. I can't imagine him _lying_."

"Well he did. I wentto the Hospital Wing and he wasn't there."

"Maybe you just missed him. He certainly _looked _sick."

"He always does, and he's lying."

"How do you know?" James asked being unreasonably reasonable.

"James! I just _know_." Sirius said exasperatedly, "You know, he's sick and awful lot of the time, I bet he's lying then too."

"Look mate," James said putting his quill down, "how about we go back to the Hospital Wing and check if he's there, how does that sound?"

"Fine. I wont even say 'I told you so'."

---

"I _told_ you so! Did I not tell you so?" Sirius said as soon as they left the Hospital Wing.

"Sirius, did it ever occur to you that when Madam Pomfrey said 'he's too sick for visitors' she meant he's too sick for visitors?"

"_James!_ He wasn't there! You _know_ he wasn't there, I saw behind her and _no-one _was there."

James sighed in defeat. "OK, fine, he wasn't there. What are we going to do about it?"

Sirius grinned in his victory and said, "We'll ask him."

James looked at him incredulously. "Ask him? That's your master plan? We just _ask _him?"

"Why not?"

James just shook his head and said, "Fine, we'll ask him. I promise I wont say 'I told you so'."

---

Remus groaned and rubbed his temples. _Owowowowow, _he thought. He'd wanted to go back to class but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't have it, she'd insisted he stay the night. And for a good reason, he looked like he'd gotten into a fight with a dragon. _Or a werewolf_, he joked without coming anywhere near the concept of funny. _Ha ha ha_, he thought dryly, _Ow_.

"I'm sorry, Mr Lupin isn't feeling up to visitors at the moment."

"But-- "

"He'll be out and about by tomorrow."

"But-- "

"You should be getting to your lessons now."

"Can't we just talk to him?"

"He's asleep"

"Can't we just _see_ him then! What's wrong with him anyway?"

"…"

Remus cringed at the sound of Sirius and James; how was he going to get out of this one? _Oh dear, _he thought as he called out to the nurse who was struggling under the will of his friends

"It's OK I think I'm well enough to see them."

Madam Pomfrey then decided to let him handle it and allowed them through, before bustling about the Hospital Wing, but keeping an intent ear on the three boys' conversation.

Sirius ripped open the curtain glaring down at Remus, but as soon as he saw him his expression immediately changed to shock.

"What on _earth _happened to you?" Asked James the look on his face imitating Sirius'. "D'you get in a fight with the Whomping Willow or something?"

"A dragon actually."

"_Really?_" Sirius said eyes widening.

"Of course not. A potion blew up in my face."

"But we haven't seen any potions blow up in your face?" Said James.

"Remedial Potions."

"Wow, I knew you weren't good but...Wow."

"Thanks." Remus said dryly.

"Anyway," pointed out Sirius, "those look like claw marks and did someone _bite _you?"

"The entire cauldron exploded, bits of metal everywhere, you know, the works." Remus knew he was cutting it fine and Sirius seemed to think so too.

"I suppose it bit you too?"

Remus sighed, he couldn't handle this kind of pressure, especially so soon after the full moon. "What's your point Sirius?" he asked wearily.

"We came last night and you weren't here. You said you were sick and I was wondering where you were."

"I _was_ sick. Madam Pomfrey gave me something for it and I was fine so I went off to Remedial Potions and was late and had a cauldron blow up in my face."

James and Sirius still looked suspicious but when James opened up his mouth to say something Remus interrupted him. "Look," he said tersely, he _really_ wasn't in the mood, "Do you think I'm _lying _or something?"

The two boys reddened slightly and tried to say "Of course not!" and "Never!" at the same time, resulting in a lot of garbled words and very awkward, guilty looks. Remus raised his eyebrows at them and Madam Pomfrey hurried over to tell them they'd bothered him long enough. He leaned back into his pillows carefully as his friends were hustled out of the room. He frowned slightly, wearing the particular I-Am-Remus-Lupin-And-I-Am-Worried look that only he could ever achieve.

---

" I _told you so._" Said James with feeling. "You just had to go and ask, and now he thinks we think he's a liar."

"But we do-- I mean-- he is!" Said Sirius.

"Then we need to find out why." Said James, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I have an idea."

---

"I won't spy on him!"

"It's not _spying_, it's observation and deduction."

"It _is _spying! I refuse to spy on a fellow Marauder. What happened to camaraderie! What happened to the _code _James!"

"What are you on about? We don't have a 'code'."

"Well we should. And rule number one should be 'No spying on fellow Marauders.'"

"Rule number two should be 'Sirius Black is a stubborn prat.'"

"That's not a rule you idiot."

---

"Hey, James."

"Eh?"

"Well… I was wondering..."

"Yeah?"

"Well… You know how Remus has those Remedial Potions lessons?"

"Go on."

"What if a cauldron blows up in his face again?"

"Your point being…?"

"Well…we could do some observation and deduction."

"Good man. I knew you'd come around."

---

"Sirius? James? Are you sure we should be doing this?" Peter murmured nervously and rather too loudly for Sirius' liking.

"Shut up Pete."

"What if he sees us?"

"We're invisible."

"What if he hears us?"

"He bloody well will if you don't shut up."

"I'm just saying-- "

"Well you shouldn't be saying anything."

James rolled his eyes and tried his best to ignore the two boys who were being extremely un-marauderly and Not Paying Attention To The Bloody Mission. That course of action usually led to the path of detention and so James generally encouraged the other Marauders to avoid it, not that they ever _listened _to him. The soft sound of cautious footsteps reached his ears. He froze. None of the boys under the cloak could possibly achieve such footsteps, and certainly not whilst they were Not Paying Attention To The Bloody Mission.

"Shh! I heard someone!" He said softly.

The boys stopped in their tracks and watched silently as Remus Lupin appeared right in front of them. He was rather a lot closer than James had thought and he caught his breath as his sickly looking friend stepped into the corridor. The brown haired boy glanced around furtively and headed towards a door that lead onto the grounds. James grabbed Sirius' arm on one hand and Peter's in the other and dragged them after the boy, awkwardly managing to get them through the door before it swung shut.

"Ouch!" said Peter in an indiscreet whisper as Sirius stumbled into him and stepped heavily on his foot.

The figure in front of them spun around and stared intently into the darkness looking for any sign of disturbance. When he began walking again the boys followed and James was relieved to find out that they were _finally _Paying Attention To The Bloody Mission.

---

Remus walked steadily towards the dark shape of the willow, breathing heavily and glancing every now and then at the setting sun. It had been nigh impossible to get away from James, Sirius and Peter that week. Peter had followed him around so closely that he could hardly _breathe_, and James and Sirius kept glancing at him suspiciously and whispering to each other when they thought he wasn't paying attention. They had been so very obvious about it, but they were genuinely oblivious to that fact and had put so much effort into their plan that Remus hadn't the heart to tell them exactly how apparent their suspicions were. But the time came when he had to draw the line and funnily enough that time was sunset, just before the rise of the full moon.

"Ouch!"

Remus whipped around gazing into the shadows, looking for the source of the sound. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, if someone saw him… Nothing moved. Eventually he had to continue, even if there _was_ someone what choice did he have but to get to the shack before the moon reached the sky? None really. And so he took a deep breath and hurried on his way.

---

"James you were right, he is picking fights with the Whomping Willow." Sirius whispered into his friend's ear.

"No kidding… is he crazy?"

"Well obviously."

"Why would he want to fight a tree?" asked Peter.

"We have to stop him, whatever the reason this is madness and he'll get beaten to a pulp." Said Sirius moving to take off the cloak.

"Wait… he's doing something." James said and grabbed his arm.

"He's poking it." Said Peter unnecessarily.

"This is bloody stupid," murmured Sirius, "I'm gonna stop him."

"Just wait Sirius."

They waited. The tree's quivering branches froze.

"Well that was unexpected." Said Peter, ever fond of stating the obvious.

---

Something was wrong. Sirius didn't know exactly what but something was most _definitely_ wrong. It was something to do with the sudden drop of temperature as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, something to do with the fact that Remus had not only lied to them about where he disappeared to all the time but also hidden an entire _secret passageway _from them. Sirius was sure that whenever they got around to writing a Marauder Code hiding secret passageways from each other would most certainly be near the top. They should turn back; Sirius _knew_ they should turn back. He didn't say anything though. He simply didn't want to. He didn't want anything to be wrong; he wanted to solve the mystery of the disappearing Remus. So he put it all down to nerves. He was nervous, who wouldn't be? And when the shadows of the dark passageway covered up all traces of their fellow marauder and they had no choice but to just keep walking forward he didn't say anything because it was just nerves.

---

James felt an involuntary shiver pass through him. There was something undeniably creepy about their situation. It radiated creepiness, but it also radiated mystery, and curiosity was an overall more compelling feeling than creepiness. It didn't matter if the situation was screaming bloody murder, James would not be deterred. They had come this far and they would find out what was going on. It was probably something they would laugh about later and he would make fun of himself for being so paranoid. _That's right Jamesie old pal, _he reassured himself, _it's probably something harmless, maybe Remus is conducting a secret affair with his beloved chocolate. _He smiled shakily, _See? All you needed was a bit of positive thinking. Positive thinking always does the trick._

---

"I don't like this," whimpered Peter.

"S'okay," mumbled Sirius in reply "Absolutely nothing is wrong. Nothing."

"That's right mate," agreed James distractedly, " I think some positive thinking is in order. Positive thinking Pete, positive thinking."

Peter couldn't help but feel completely un-reassured at his friends' obvious slip into denial. In fact he was greatly dissuaded by it. However he didn't say anything more on the matter. _They're right, _he thought to himself, _they are not in denial. They are right. Nothing is wrong. Positive thinking Pete, positive thinking._

---

Remus shivered and wrapped his arms around his chest hoping to perhaps retain _some _warmth. Madam Pomfrey, ever thoughtful, had insisted he take a thick blanket with him but he had hidden it away in another room with his wand, what was the point of a blanket if he was just going to tear it to shreds anyway? The wind picked up and the shack groaned and creaked with the effort of staying upright. Remus gazed out the small cracked window biting his lip in anticipation. Silver light spilled onto the floorboards and the boy flinched taking a step back.

"Oi! Remus!"

He spun around eyes wide with panic. But what he saw was so very much worse than he could ever have imagined.

---

"Where are we?" squeaked Peter.

"I have no idea…" Replied Sirius looking around at the torn curtains and broken furniture.

"This place is a dump." Said James also following Sirius' eyes.

"Is that _blood_? It's not blood right? Just… just… jam, or something. But not blood." Peter muttered half to himself.

"Uhh… Sirius? I think I know where we are." James called softly gazing out of a shattered window.

"Really? Wait, you don't think it's…"

"The Shrieking Shack."

"Bloody hell Remus."

"Shut up. I think I see him."

"He's just standing there, odd fellow."

"James, I don't like this. We should just go and talk to him. I bet he'd just tell us, I mean since we've gotten this far and all-- " Peter interrupted his voice rising at least three octaves.

"Shut _up_ Pete, He's bloody _right there_." Sirius hissed exasperatedly.

"This place is _haunted _you know! Really, _really _haunted!"

"I think Pete's right." James said softly, glancing from side to side nervously.

"This place is _not _bloody haunted."

"Not about that, I think we should just ask him now."

"Sure about that?"

"Not really, but this place is creepy as hell… Oi! Remus!"

---

The boy reacted in an instant, spinning around and staring at them, mouth hanging open, in horror.

"What in the name of _Merlin_ do you think you're doing!"

"Uhh… We were just wondering-- " James was taken aback, perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"RUN!" Remus cried, his voice deepening till it resembled the roar of a wild animal.

"Remus what's wrong?" Asked Sirius with concern.

"Just shut up and _listen_ to me! _RUN_ YOU BLOODY IDIOTS!"

The boy let out a cry of agony and doubled over hands clutching at his sides.

"REMUS!" cried Sirius starting towards him. James grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Don't," he said breathlessly.

"James! He's in pain! We have to help him!"

James just stood there mouth open as hair started sprouting up along his friends arms, and his back arched and stretched.

"James!" cried Sirius wrenching his arm away from the boy.

"Sirius! No!"

James snapped out of his stupor and lunged for Sirius' leg, they both toppled to the ground. Remus turned to them and opened his mouth, this time it _was_ the roar of a wild animal. James let go of Sirius' leg and grabbed his arm again, struggling to his feet and dragging the stunned boy after him. Remus' cries of pain suddenly stopped and there was a brief moment of silence when only the three human hearts could be heard thundering in the night. Then he howled, long and chilling, raising the hair on the back of their necks. James was the first to move pulling Sirius towards the door and grabbing Peter, who seemed to be frozen in his fear, by the sleeve. He hurried them both to the entrance of the tunnel and pushed them through. James hurriedly snatched up the cloak form the place they'd hidden it and ran after his friends down the passageway, haunting howls resonating in the frosty night air.

---

The three boys stumbled into their dorm panting hard. The door shut behind them with a dull thud. There was nothing but silence. Peter trembled and collapsed onto a pile of clothes and textbooks, Sirius fell back onto his bed and stared up at the scarlet drapes, James leant against the cold stone wall slowly sinking down till he was seated on the floor.

"Bloody hell." Said James breathlessly and Peter nodded furiously in agreement.

"I'm sorry." Said Sirius, voice strained. "It's just he was, well, screaming, and in pain -- I just wanted to help -- then I just went after him and you -- then he -- Did you see his _eyes_? They were… just like the picture in the text book… in the part about… about…"

"Werewolves."

"Bloody hell."

"I can't believe we never noticed. Every month. It was always on the full moon. And we never even suspected…"

"Why would we?" Peter piped up, "You don't just go around accusing people of… of being…"

"Yeah I know Pete."

"What are we going to do?" Asked Peter, a slight tremor in his voice. "I mean, should we… should we…"

"No way in hell. I dunno what we're going to do but I know what we are _not _going to do." Said James firmly, "We're not going to tell _anybody_. We're not going to panic. And we're most certainly _not _going to leave Remus."

---

Peter couldn't sleep. Every time he shut his eyes he saw the sickly white yellow colour of the full moon and heard the sound of a wolf howling. It sent shivers down his spine and fear filled him to his fingertips. He was also sad for his friend though, however bad it was for him it must be at least a hundred times worse for Remus.

---

Sirius' eyes flew open. Every time he closed them he saw Remus curled up in pain, saw the monsters huge diluted pupils. He bit his lip, a lonely howl rang through the air. He gasped as he tasted blood, _Bloody hell Remus, _he thought, _and I thought _I _had it bad._

---

James rolled over to his side and covered his ears. Whenever he was about to fall asleep he heard the hair-raising cries and bloodcurdling screams of his transformed friend. How could he have not noticed? It was right in front of him all the time and he never saw it. He shook his head and slipped on his glasses. He could hear the ragged breathing of his sleepless friends. _There's only one thing for it._ He thought and swung his feet over the side of his bed groping around with his toes for some shoes.

"Mates," he said firmly, "we're off to the Hospital Wing."

---

Remus groaned. The pale grey morning peeped through the curtains of his hospital bed. His muscles ached and his arms were covered in blood-drenched bandages. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, tried to get some rest before what he'd been dreading finally happened. However sleep did not come, and time seemed to go slower just so he could have hours on end to dread what the day would bring. He would have to leave Hogwarts, he would have to endure the look of disappointment Dumbledore would give him and the looks of horror from his classmates. His friends-- former friends… Remus bit his lip to force back the tears threatening to overwhelm him. James, Sirius and Peter had been the first friends he'd had since-- well, since he could remember. He had thought he'd give anything to know what it was like to have friends, even if it was only for a little while. But now he knew it was much, much worse to have to spend the rest of his days knowing what it could have been like.

That night was unusually clear in his mind; normally he could hardly remember anything of his transformations, they were just a blur of pain and moonlight. But last night was different, he could remember clearly the look on their faces when they realised what he was. James saw it first, and then Peter realised and completely froze up. Sirius was last, just moments away from his face, Remus had to use the last ounce of control he had over himself to turn his head so Sirius would see his eyes and understand. Defence Against the Dark Arts could be incredibly useful. So now they knew. He felt slightly relieved, he'd hated lying to them and not having to do so anymore was a weight off his shoulders. However it was little consolation in the larger scheme of things. They weren't his friends anymore and that was all that mattered to him.

"Shh!"

"Why are we trying to be quiet?"

"He might hear us Peter you idiot!"

"But isn't that the point?"

Arguing voices interrupted his thoughts. _Is that?… It can't be, _thought Remus in disbelief.

"You two are not paying _any _attention to what we're bloody trying to do are you?"

Remus' eyes widened as James' voice joined the argument, which he suspected was between Sirius and Peter. Something on his bedside table fell with a clatter to the stone floor. He shook his head slowly in an attempt to clear it without giving himself an immense headache.

"And you call yourselves Marauders?" He said incredulously. He frowned at himself; it was easy to forget that they weren't his friends anymore. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of what.

Three figures appeared next to his bed, three faces grinned down at him.

"What're you smiling about?" he muttered dismally, "You can't possibly find this _funny _of all things?"

Their expressions immediately turned serious, "We didn't mean-- I mean what we were going to say is…um…" Said James incoherently.

"It doesn't matter-- I mean, well it _does_, but don't worry-- I'm sorry." Remus blurted out in an equally incoherent fashion.

The three boys stared at him.

"What do you mean _you're _sorry?" said Sirius, "_You _can't be sorry. You've got nothing to be sorry _for_."

"But-- "

"I don't want to hear it Remus, take it back."

"But-- "

"We don't hate you." Peter said. James and Sirius glared at him.

"What happened to what we practised?" James whispered in what he thought was a subtle way.

"You don't?" said Remus breathlessly. They all turned to face him again.

"Of course not!" declared James. "You didn't think that just because… Just because of your… your… furry little problem we'd just _abandon _you!"

Remus laughed, almost hysterically.

"What?" Said Sirius sounding hurt, "We're not joking. We mean it."

"Sorry, it's just that no one's called it my 'furry little problem' before, I must commend you for your creativity." Remus' smile disappeared. He was ruining the moment, he tended to do that; say the most stupid things at the most inappropriate times. However a few moments later he smiled again, he couldn't keep that stupid grin off his face. _They mean it! _He thought ecstatically, _they don't hate me._

Peter smiled nervously and began to laugh, and not a moment later the three other boys had joined him laughing raucously in the otherwise empty hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey burst into the room holding a lantern out in front of her.

"What's going on here? You boys shouldn't be out of bed!"

Sirius turned around and grinned charmingly at her "Sorry Madam Pomfrey," He said, "We were just trying to comfort poor Remus here, Remedial Potions can be such an arse."

---

_Look! It's ANOTHER author note: Thanks for reading this! Any reviewers will get a tim tam and possibly an old brown leather shoe._


End file.
